"If there's anyone that thinks ... it's anyway appropriate or amusing to take a photo of fruit they may already had, and to put an object into it and put it on Facebook or Twitter and to spread it around and contact health authorities, they are seriously deluded," Mr Dutton said.

"They are potentially committing serious criminal offences."

The Federal Government has already announced $AU1 million ($NZ1.098m) to help deal with the crisis, fast-track product recalls and to detect contamination.

The scare has prompted product recalls, forcing some growers in the $AU130m annual industry to destroy their crops.

Exporters have been ordered to undergo tighter checks, including mandatory screening of produce through metal detectors or X-ray machines.